I Must Be Dreaming
by Iceheart123
Summary: A friend and I wake up in the Avatar world on Zuko's ship. Set around after the time of episode 104 "The Kyoshi Warriors." Rated T to be safe. I apologize for the lousy title.
1. Chapter 1

I must be Dreaming

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender yet, but as soon as I achieve world domination, you'll be the first to know.

**1**

Jade

It was one of those days when life couldn't seem to get any better. Summer had just arrived in Maryland, but the weather wasn't turning out to be as swelteringly hot as the meteorologist promised. My cat, Milton was snoozing on his bed, and I was listening to music. At 11:00PM, the rest of the house was asleep. I dozed off to the lilting reggae music of Bob Marley.

When I woke up, I realized that I wasn't in Maryland anymore. My first clue was the hard metal underneath me. The second was the slight rocking underneath me.

I had been on boats before, and while the movement was always disconcerting at best I knew how to keep my footing. However, in the pitch blackness, I couldn't see where I was going. My foot hit something, and the metal floor of the ship came up to meet me. I picked up a quite large piece of coal. Great. Although I wasn't exactly known for being graceful, it was still pathetic. As I picked myself up after that embarrassing fall, something moved out of the corner of my eye. Since it was still dark out, it was difficult to tell who it was

It was then that I felt something hard slam into me and a familiar voice that I could not quite place demanded "Who the heck are you? Where am I?"

"As soon as I figure that out, I'll let you know." I groaned, rubbing my ribs where the stranger had kicked me.

We moved towards the stern of the ship. From there, I could dimly see the shape of a huge smokestack and column. There was a little slit at almost the top of the column that was giving off light. I figured that place was a good place to get information. The wheel creaked as the door opened and the stranger and I stepped into the ship. As we got further into the ship, the walls were increasingly lit with candles. The light coming off of them threw the stranger's face into relief and we both stared in disbelief as we each realized who the other was.

"Sancia, oh my god, it's so good to see you!" I exclaimed as I rushed over to hug my long-time friend.

"It has been awhile, hasn't it?" she replied.

It had been a few years since we had last seen each other face to face, but we chatted often. We walked in silence for a while after, looking at stuff. One of the doors was open, revealing a room filled with spears and other weapons. The others, cabins I assumed, were closed. As we walked, I began to feel paranoid, like someone was watching me, but I dismissed this as what comes from being in a strange place at night. Suddenly, Sancia broke the silence.

"Are you getting the feeling that we're being watched?" she asked.

I opened my mouth to reply when suddenly something dropped to the ground and I felt swords at my throat.

A quiet, velvety voice whispered in my ear "you have 3 seconds to explain yourselves before I skewer you."

A/N: So there you have it. My first (very pathetic) attempt at a cliff note.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Thank you to Mike and Brian for allowing us to show our love or take our frustrations out on your characters. I own no one except for Jade and Sancia (who is based on my real life friend)

**2**

Sancia

"You have 3 seconds to explain yourselves before I skewer you." The speaker sounded so calm as he said it, as if he were discussing the weather rather than beheading my friend. I was stunned. Even with his threats, it was difficult not to pity the boy. He was tall and thin with a pale complexion and golden eyes. He was completely bald, except for a strange looking ponytail at the top of his head. But his most dominant feature was the large fireball shaped burn scar that extended past his ear. Noticing that I was staring at him, his expression darkened.

"ANSWER ME" he demanded in a sharp barking tone so unlike the soft, smooth tone of his last "request."

My mind was going a mile a minute. I _knew_ that face from somewhere. Then I remembered the pictures that Jade had sent me when she was writing her first story. _Zuko_. I said the name, hoping that he would brush it off, say I had made a mistake. But he didn't. His eyes widened, then narrowed back into the angry little slits that I was more familiar with.

"_Prince_ Zuko" he hissed, sending chills down my spine but he pulled the swords away from Jade's neck. I let out a breath I didn't realize that I was holding.

It didn't make sense. Although I wasn't the _most_ logical person in the world, characters from T.V shows didn't appear right in front of people.

Zuko seemed to get angrier at my lack of an answer and moved towards me and went back into an attack stance. What had Wikipedia said? Something about firebending in combination with swords...

I didn't think. I had to save myself and my friend and I did this in the simplest way possible.

I punched him in the face.

He growled in pain and anger, sheathed his swords and went into a stance. Jade grabbed my arm and hissed "come on we have to get out of here" and we took off.

We were almost to the end of the corridor when I heard a sound. It sounded like thunder, but also, not thunder. Seconds later Jade gave a yelp and collapsed. Her shoulder was burned.

As Fire Nation soldiers surrounded us and led us away, I saw Zuko. His eyes were narrowed into slits and his right eye was already swelling.

I turned to look at Jade, and saw fear swimming in her eyes. I had screwed up.

The soldiers threw us into the prison hold. Jade yelped again as she landed on her shoulder. The door creaked as it swung shut and we were alone.

A/N: Just got back from summer camp and I needed to write something. Chapters will be short (less than 1000 words) But I promise to update regularly.

Also, Thanks to BridgeFan15 and  Chi flower for reviewing and Amythystblack061, Night Teen, CharolotteDarkrose, Aelitagirly and BridgeFan15 for subscribing or favoriting this. You make writing this worthwhile.


	3. Chapter 3

** Disclaimer:** I don't own A:TLA. If I did... It would be pretty much the same as it is. These are just the random ideas in my head begging to be let out.

**3**

Jade

I sat in the corner, clutching my shoulder for a while. It hurt, but with a burn, that was probably a good thing.

Sancia had fallen asleep an hour ago, but I still couldn't get back to sleep.

The cell was pitch dark, I couldn't see anything. But outside I _could _see. I have terrible eyesight, so seeing things clearly without the aid of glasses or contacts was strange. I silently thanked whatever force that had brought us here for giving me this ability.

I woke with a start as the door creaked open and light flooded into the cell. Apparently, it was morning. The person who had opened the door was a guard holding a tray with what looked like noodles in a bowl. To my dismay, I saw chopsticks. Even though my family eats sushi regularly, I had yet to learn how to use chopsicks.

The door creaked closed as the guard left. The bars on the door let in some light, so seeing things wasn't a problem.

Sancia picked up the chopsticks with the confidence of a person who had been using them her entire life. Which she had.

After 15 minutes (or 5, time seems to slow down when you're frustrated!) the door creaked open again. This time, the person standing at the door was none other than Zuko.

He didn't waste any time. "Where's the Avatar?" he demanded.

I couldn't decide how I felt at being accused of traveling with the spiritual entity of (this) world. I decided on anger.

"How dare you come in here and start accusing us? I have had a horrible day, which involved being plucked from my home by some unknown force and dropped here, wandering around a ship with no clue where I was, captured and burned. So listen here _princess" _I hissed. "If you don't want a broken jaw courtesy of my friend here" -Sancia protested at this, telling me not to rope her into this.- "I would _advise_ you to stop barging in here and accusing us of random c*** without some proof."

I halted my little rant, still angry, but feeling good at having vented some of my frustrations out on _something_. Zuko's face was turning a lovely shade of purple, accenting his new black eye quite nicely.

I sat down again, still glaring daggers at Zuko, and decided to keep trying with the chopsticks. I had finally gotten a noodle on the sticks when Zuko spoke up.

"You listen. I don't know where you come from, but I am the commanding officer on this ship and you will treat me with respect."

"Yes ma'am" I deadpanned, my arm coming up in a mock salute.

He growled turning around and slamming the door with such force that the entire room rattled with the force of it.

But not before he burned my chopsticks and the fruits of all my hard work to cinders.

Maybe I **did** go too far this time.

A/N: first, sorry for the long wait and short chapter. School is back in session and I am majorly stressed.

I was also going through a tough writer's block for this chapter. What got me through it, oddly enough was Warriors manga: "Rise of Scourge". There's this scene where Scourge is trying to get his collar off with a dog's tooth and it goes through the collar (without actually getting it off.) The look on his face when his plan didn't work was floating around my head during this writer's block, so I decided to put it into words.

Also, some of the stuff in this story are actually random details from my life. Only the names have been changed to protect identities.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Zuko**

**Disclaimer: I Don't own A:TLA. I only own Sancia and Jade  
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I stormed out of the prison hold in a huff and turned into the corridor that lead to the upper portion of the ship. One of the nameless soldiers also turned the corner and stopped in front of me.

"Prince Zuko sir?" he asked tentatively.

"WHAT" I snapped. I really wasn't in the mood to be messed with right now. The soldier flinched.

"Th-this was found on deck sir" he stuttered. "We believe that it belonged to the prisoners." He handed over what looked like a small box with a cord leading out of it. I took it and looked at it curiously. Maybe this could lead to a few clues as to what these girls are hiding. I had turned around and was heading towards the cells when I heard shouting on deck. I put the box down and raced upward to check out what this was about. My worst fears were realized when I climbed the last staircase to get to the deck. Pirates. I growled. Who was the moron that was on duty? He should have warned us. My thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a spear hurling towards me. I knocked the spear away and blasted the pirate overboard. A reptile bird was soaring overhead, squawking madly.

When I turned around, I couldn't believe what I saw. It was one of the girls... Jade? She was holding one of the spears from the weapons room and although she was obviously unskilled, no one could doubt that she was powerful. She was fighting side by side with her comrade, who had taken a sword. And they seemed to be fighting on our side. It was bewildering, but I had no time to think about this.

I had just snapped out of my reverie when two pirates came at me at once. One was skinny with an eye patch over one eye and the other was rounder with a tattoo of two crossed swords.

I prepared to defend myself, but as one of the pirates was thrusting his sword at me, it was knocked away.

I turned and saw Jade, her eyes were ice as she swung her own spear and caught the round pirate on the head with the middle of the spear. I winced, in spite of myself as he went down. The other one decided that he was better off somewhere else and fled.

"What are _you_ doing here?" I hissed. Jade's eyes narrowed at me as another pirate lopped off the tip of her spear with a sword. Growling, she turned and thrust what was left of her weapon at him and hit him in the stomach. He fell down, momentarily unable to breathe.

"What, no thank you" she snarled at me. Obviously, she still was bitter over our last conversation.

"I can fight my own battles" I growled back at her.

At this point, the fight was wearing down. The pirates got back on their ship and before we could react, were sailing away.

A few of the pirates remained and were swiftly captured by my men. They would be brought to the nearest Fire Nation port. The pirates that escaped would undoubtedly find new recruits wherever they were going. We were lucky. There were very few casualties among my men and none of their wounds were serious. Sancia had a small cut on her shoulder where one of the pirates had caught her with a spear. She had taken a broadsword from the weapons room and apparently hadn't been afraid to use it, seeing as that was her only injury. She was the same as her comrade; unskilled, but strong.

This fight had left me with a dilemma, however. Where should the girls stay? They couldn't stay in the prison hold any longer, not with the pirates there. They couldn't stay with the crew either, if what they usually did when we made port was anything to go by. We did have a guest room on the top level of the ship next to my room. But what if they escaped? It was a chance that I was going to have to take.

I walked over to them and cleared my throat, startling them out of their discussion.

_Where do I start?_ I really should have thought about this beforehand.

"So, uhhh... I have decided that you can stay in the guest room at the top level." I finally stammered out.

The girls looked at me for a second, then Sancia spoke up.

"Wow, for a prince, you _suck_ at speaking."

"One of the guards will show you to your new room" I said through gritted teeth. I beckoned one of the guards over and told him this. As he walked away with the girls in tow, Uncle came over.

"I am proud of you, Prince Zuko" he said warmly. I smiled awkwardly back at him. "Thank you Uncle" I said. Sancia was right. I did suck at speaking. I couldn't put into words how much he meant to me and to do so would mean losing the respect of my men. So I went back into the ship and picked up the box. For a moment, I considered taking it to the guest room, but I really didn't want to face the sharp-tongued Jade again. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

As I rounded the corner to get to my room, Jade appeared in front of me.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"I live here, now ask me why." Jade said curtly. Her eyes lit onto the box in my hand.

"What are you doing with that?" she asked and before I could react, she'd wrenched the box out of my hands.

"That's yours?" I said dumbly. She shot me a look.

"No, it's my dog's. I'm just holding it for her." She snapped sarcastically. Apparently the stress was getting to all of us.

"What, no thank you?" I shot back, shooting her words back at her.

We stood there, glaring at each other for awhile, until Jade broke the silence.

"Well, I'll just be getting back to my room, if that's okay with you princess." It was undoubtedly the most respectful sentence that she had ever said. I didn't even mind the "princess" part.

She was almost at the end of the hallway when I stopped her.

"What is that thing, anyway?"

She sighed before replying. "It's an Ipod, it plays music." Before I could articulate one of the questions forming in my mind, she said something that bewildered me even more.

"I'm from the future. Sancia and I both are. I know you from a television series that people watch for entertainment. Sancia doesn't know much about you, though."

It was then that I realized that I did believe her. If anything, it was one of the only logical explanation that I could form out of all this: That she simply wasn't _from_ here, from my world. Jade raised one of her eyebrows at me, clearly expecting a response. She was a peasant. This went against everything that I had been taught. But I had to know more. "Tell me more."

**A/N: As usual, the inspiration for this chapter came from an outside source. Namely ****The Last Airbender****. I got it on Itunes today. It is honestly, not the worst movie that I've ever watched, but I've seen some pretty awful movies. It wasn't as bad as I thought, though. If you can't tell, Jade's response to Zuko's question of "What are you doing here?" is from ****Bewitched. ****I love poor Gladys Kravitz. She's so hopeless :) **** Please read and review and feel free to point out any problems in the story. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Jade**

**Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA. Only Sancia and Jade.**

We came into the guest cabin (my cabin?) and we each sat on a futon. I had imagined this over and over since I came here, but now that I was at this moment, I was at a loss for words. Where I live should be a good place to start.

"So, I live in a country called America. It is a democracy in which people get represented in government. We have things like the I-pod and things like cars, which we use to travel.

Zuko broke the silence.

"What's a 'TV show?'" He asked

"It's a form of entertainment projected as a picture that appears on a box much bigger than an IPod" I said, turning on the IPod and turning it to Avatar. As intended, he started when he saw himself on TV. Who wouldn't?

I put the IPod away.

Then he asked the question I'd been asking myself since I came here.

"How did you get here?"

"I'm not sure" I admitted. It wasn't a good enough answer for either of us. "I just went to bed last night and before I knew it, I was waking up on your ship.

"So this doesn't happen often where you come from?"

"I am almost certain that it doesn't" I replied. Gotta leave a little room for doubt. After all, I was sitting in a cabin with _Prince Zuko_.

One of the soldiers came up to the room. He bowed, presumably to Zuko, and spoke.

"Prince Zuko, we will be arriving at Fènghuáng* soon."

Zuko nodded "Yes, fetch the prisoners and get the dinghy ready. We need to get them to the proper authorities as soon as possible."

The soldier bowed again with a "Yes sir" and walked off.

I turned to Zuko. "Why do we need the dinghy? Can't you just tie off at one of the slips?"

Zuko stared at me a little before answering, as if he didn't quite expect someone from the _future_ to know something about boating.

"Fènghuáng is a small town and the harbor is pretty shallow. It doesn't allow for a ship this size to make port. We're going to have to anchor."

I assumed that it was a Fire Nation colony, considering we were dropping off the pirates there. I had just one question, but Zuko answered before I could ask.

"You can come if you want to."

"You're not afraid that we're going to escape?"

Zuko shrugged. "If what you're saying is true and you are not helping the avatar, you can stay or go, whatever you like."

I nodded and we parted ways. He needed to get the ship ready to anchor, and I had a dinghy to find. But first, I had to get out of my t-shirt, which had been destroyed by Zuko's firebending. I didn't want to take Zuko's, even thought we were roughly the same size. Much as I hated to admit it, I needed Zuko in order to learn the ropes of how to survive in this world. The last thing I wanted was to have to fend for myself. Sancia would undoubtedly do better than me, as she was used to some of these things.

I turned the corner, stepped down a staircase and tried the first door that I found. _Bingo._ I smiled.

The room was hot, almost uncomfortably so, with the heat coming from the engine room nearby.

There were rows and rows of lines held to the walls. And on the lines were various items of clothing drying after having been washed somewhere. I hadn't seen any women on Zuko's ship in the series, so I was pretty sure that this didn't have any women's clothing, but beggars can't be choosers. I looked around until I found a shirt that looked like it would fit me, which also happened to be a part of the smallest set. Hoping against hope that Zuko wasn't the shortest person on the ship and he wouldn't be too mad if this _did_ happen to be his, I tried it on. A little big, but at least it fit.

I contemplated the jeans next to it before deciding to leave them where they were. I didn't care much for fashion. I hated shopping for clothing and did so rarely. But if I was to survive, I was going to have to blend. And that meant not wearing men's clothing. But I had to get out of this section of the ship. The heat was driving me insane.

I all but ran up the steps and onto the deck. If there's one thing I do best, it's finding my way in new places. Unfortunately, just as I was getting to the stern where the dinghy was, I executed that "other" talent that I have: tripping on perfectly smooth surfaces.

"Are you OK?" Sancia said as I walked onto the dinghy, embarrassment painting my cheeks red.

"Fine" I said. Sancia was known for her kindness. She had an empathy rarely seen in this world. She was a bit unassertive, but she would still wouldn't let you walk all over her.

Zuko broke the silence. "What are you doing with my shirt?" Oops.

"I needed to get a new one, since the other one was destroyed. It's the only one that fits." I replied truthfully. "I'll give it back later. I need to get new stuff anyway, in order to blend."

Zuko scowled at me. I didn't care. There was a difference from the normal "Zuko" mad and the "that's it, I'm kicking you out" mad. As long as I watched how far to push it, there was no reason I couldn't enjoy watching him get all worked up. It was fun, after all.

We arrived at the port and I helped tie off, then proceeded to get off first. Sancia looked wary, as if unsure that she wouldn't fall in. I gave her my hand and together we got up on the deck.

Zuko got off next, followed by the prisoners, his crew and Iroh. The crew would accompany the prisoners to the prison or wherever they'd be locked up and then they'd go off to do...other things. I preferred not to think about it, but if there was one good thing about the battle, it was that the crew knew that Sancia and I were more than capable of taking care of ourselves.

* * *

><p>After dropping off the pirates, Sancia and I walked towards the market with Iroh. I couldn't actually read the signs, but I found a store that looked promising. This must not have been one of the more observed colonies. I saw clothing from every nation. I played it safe and put on some red Fire Nation like stuff. Sancia, however had more of a sense of adventure.<p>

"So, what do you think" she said holding up the blue dress-like outfit she'd picked out.

I smiled "You should totally get it. We could see if Zuko blows up"

Sancia was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

It was time for Avatar101. class was in session.

"That's Water Tribe. People in the Fire Nation aren't normally very accepting of any color other than their own. Zuko, in particular, is VERY patriotic, so he might get angry."

"Whatever, I am still going to get it. Is that really all you're getting?"

I looked down at the 2 red dresses in my hands. "Yes. One is for when the other gets dirty."

Sancia rolled her eyes and picked up the dress as well as a few other stuff that she'd gotten. She had gotten more of a color selection, as well as a few Fire Nation reds.

We came out of the shop and wandered around a bit, going into the ones that looked the most interesting. Sancia had some ability to read the signs, so I kinda relied on her and what I saw in storefronts, as well as the carts of food and other goods.

We were coming around a bend when I felt as if someone was following us. I was just about to turn around to look when for the second time in about as many days, I felt something sharp against my throat. And a soft, unfamiliar voice whispered in my ear.

"Looking for something?"

**A/N: OK, so sorry for the wait. I am kinda lazy and numerous things have happened. For one, one of my fav authors updated to tell me that she couldn't write anymore. So I am sending a shout out to any good angst writer who would be interested in taking her story under their wing. It is called **The Way it Was Meant to Be **and its by **Eilonnwy. **So anyone who is up for the challenge can PM or review to tell her (I am not sure if her PM thingy is still up)**

**Also, I know this is a bit late, but I'd like to thank the people who have reviewed this story so far: Chi flower,** **NerdHerd15, Melody Sparrow and Silimiara. **

**Also thanks to Irisowlsanddevilwolves, CharlotteDarkrose, Llirbwerdnadivad, Sithlord8665, **NerdHerd15, Aelitagirly, anethystblack061, Avitala, Irisowlsanddevilwolves, Manderlin, Melody Sparrow and Night Teen for Alerting/ Favoriting this story.****

R&R!

*Fènghuáng: Phoenix**  
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	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6  
>Zuko<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA. I do, however own this story, Jade, Sancia and all OCs that I make. I also own some Ugli fruit. Yum!  
><strong>

After dropping off the prisoners, we had some time to kill before the sun went down. It had been decided that we would stay in port for a few days before setting off again.  
>Uncle, as usual, spent time shopping while the rest of the crew did things that were less honorable. They told me other things, mostly in hopes of getting on their boss's good side, but I was nobody's fool. It was partially the reason why I had such a tight ship. Literally. I grimaced, hating myself for reminding myself of my current situation.<br>I was almost thankful when sounds of a scuffle interrupted my thoughts. Two men were running out of an alleyway, terrified looks on their faces. They looked like the types that would cause trouble. One was a heavyset guy with a hoop earring in his left ear. The other one was muscular and tanned with a beak like nose that looked as though it had been broken at least twice. And ya know what, they just came right up to me and started to talk.  
>From what I could tell, these two had tried to mug some women and it had gone out of control. The women turned out to be benders and had started to terrorize their would-be assailants. There were some parts that seemed far fetched to me. The part about the dragon I easily dismissed, but I couldn't do the same for the claim about the electric weapon. How could I, when I was living with people from the <em>future<em>?  
>My veins turned to ice as a new realization dawned on me. Jade and Sancia. They had gone out shopping on their own. Could they have been the women?<br>In retrospect, I probably should have taken the thugs to the town's minuscule police station, but I just wanted to get to the girls and see if they were all right.  
>I turned onto the street where the thugs had indicated and immediately saw Sancia. I called out to her. She reacted, pointing a small, black and silver device at me. She clicked a button and a rope like thing shot out. I didn't have time to react as they hit my neck. I felt a brief pain before I passed out.<p>

* * *

><p>I came to shortly afterward. My neck still hurt, but not as much as before. As my eyes refocused, I realized that I wasn't alone. Both Sancia and Jade were sitting next to me in the alley. Sancia was leaning against a trash bin, while Jade had chosen a wall. Both perked up when they found out that I was awake. Sancia was still holding the device, but it wasn't pointed at me and was instead cradled in her lap.<p>

"Could have used that with the pirates" I said, easing myself into a seated position.

She shrugged and said "I forgot it was even here."

I reached up to touch my neck, which still stung. Instantly, Jade slapped it away.  
>"Don't touch it, idiot! You'll get it infected."<br>Suddenly, I remembered what I had come here for.  
>"I'm looking for some people."<br>Both girls flashed a slightly amused, knowing look at each other before speaking.  
>"lemme guess, the Avatar's group."<br>Any other day and they would have been right in assuming this.  
>I told them about the thugs and the women whom they had tried to rob. I also mentioned the concerns I had about them. Both girls looked amused at this, exchanging smirks with each other while barely concealed snickers escaped.<br>"What's so funny?" I practically shouted. Smoke was rising from my hands.

"Aww, you actually care about us. I always knew you had a soft side!" Jade teased

"I'm sure the rest of the crew would be glad to hear that their big, tough prince actually has a soul" Sancia chimed in.

"You're enjoying this way too much" I muttered.

I decided to change the subject and hoped that the girls would forget. My reputation had taken enough blows over the past few years, after all.

"So, if you're the girls that the thugs attacked, what elements do you bend?" I inquired.

Sancia hesitantly lifted her hand as if clutching something. A small puddle from a recent rainfall rose to obey her.

Jade punched the air, creating a large fireblast that dissipated almost instantly, the flames licking the dumpster she had been aiming at. She grinned at my stunned expression.

OK, I knew they weren't related. Jade's short spiky brown hair, green almond eyes and pale skin differed too much from Sancia's long black hair, slanted black eyes and tan skin. But I was kind of expecting them to be the same type. And if eye color was anything to go by, Jade should have been an earthbender.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I turned to the girls.

"I think we should head back to the ship."

"Agreed," Jade said.

She stooped to pick up the clothes that they had bought, which were sopping wet now.

"Your turn," Jade said turning to her friend. Sancia rolled her eyes but bent the water out of the clothes.

"Firebending not looking so great now, huh? You can talk all you want about how Firebending is this great combat art, but that means nothing if you can't use it in daily life" Sancia remarked, looking smug.

"When you're up north and freezing to death, _then_ we'll talk about what's 'practical'" Jade shot back.

"Touché"

It was about five blocks away when I figured out that I'd lost them again. Fear gripped me as I thought of what trouble they could have gotten into this time. But my fears were dispelled when I saw them walking towards me with a box clutched in Sancia's arms and the most unholy grins on their faces. All this was unnerving.

"Look what we got! It was one for 5 silver pieces or 7 for the set. We even got to keep the box" Jade recounted.

I looked in the box, and saw two tiny kittens. One was an oddity in and of itself, completely hairless and pink with a round head and blue eyes that looked bigger than it was. The other one was more normal black kitten with golden eyes.

The hairless kitten mewed and I reached down awkwardly to pet it. I felt sudden pain in my hand as the kitten scratched me with claws that looked like miniature snake fangs protruding out of the long toes.

"Damn cat" I said, glaring at the kitten, which mewed again and rubbed its little face against my sleeve.

Jade snickered. "He gets my vote."

We reached the ship with no further mishaps and I got my hand and neck cleaned and bandaged. When the ship's doctor asked about my neck, Jade just smirked and said "He got tased." This got reactions of various levels for both of us. She explained that the device was called a "Taser" and it was used to stop people from attacking. After her explanation, she grinned and said "Just be glad she didn't have a gun" and left.

From the start, the crew loved the newest additions, laughing at the black kitten's antics and marveling at the hairless one's ugly-baby appeal.

It wasn't long before they found and killed their first rat, squeaking in surprise and jumping back whenever the other kitten nudged the animal. Finally their courage ran out and they ran, terrified across the hallway and down the stairs. I could imagine what they were thinking.

_Ah yes, we have killed the rat! We are the best ratters in- HELP it's ALIVE." _

The crew had a good laugh as they took the kitten's would-be meal by the tail and headed off to the kitchen.

Naming our brave new ratters was simple enough. Jade decided to go with a witchcraft theme for the black cat and named him "Jinx." The crew, undoubtedly having heard about the hairless kitten's first impression with me, named him "Punk."

I managed to ignore them until I was woken up in the middle of the night by soft purring. It was Punk, curled up next to me as if nothing had happened. He nudged his head under my hand and I was surprised at how warm he was. Like a suede hot water bottle. I shifted positions, allowing the kitten room on the futon and we both drifted off to sleep.

**A/N: Sorry for updating so late. I went on a vacation to Florida, where I typed up most of this chapter on my I-Pod and I just figured out how to email it to myself. I know, very tech-savvy of me. I didn't want to type it from my I-Pod to my computer because I'm just that lazy. Also, finals were this week and I was just too tired to type afterwards.**

**Thanks to **kage kitsune 14, Llirbwerdnadivad **and** supersta126 **for alerting/ favoriting this story**

**Also, Joe Paterno died today :( He will be missed**


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